What does Albany need? More congestion

John Norquist, the former mayor of Milwaukee, writes in an Atlantic Cities essay that cities like Albany, Schenectady and Troy should be celebrating congestion, where it occurs, because it’s a sign of vitality, a healthy tax base and overall success.

But often, Norquist writes, urban governments act as if congestion is an evil that needs to be eliminated, even though the cities that have best succeeded at eliminating traffic, like Detroit, are places where nobody is or wants to be.

He writes:

Attempts to accommodate through-traffic by widening streets can destroy the surrounding value of a neighborhood. When the amount of property value or retail sales is part of the cost benefit calculation, road-widening starts to look like a dubious investment….

This doesn’t mean that cities should strive for congestion, but they should recognize that traffic is often a sign of dynamism. Moving vehicular traffic is obviously a necessary function, but by making it the only goal, cities lose out on the economic potential created by the crowds of people that bring life to a city.

I don’t see any mention of Albany, Schenectady or Troy in that article. Or are you just using those as examples of cities? (As in I like to live in a city, such as Albany, rather than a town such as Rotterdam.) So weird man.

Cities do not and should not need auto congestion. What cities need is foot traffic and children and mothers and joggers and shoppers and PEOPLE occupying the sidewalks and parks and streets. On that criteria Albany FAILS miserably. If one where to canvass downtown Albany at nite one may be the only soul around….especially on a SUnday nite. What we DO NOT need is more strip development and autos cloggings the roads outside of the city. We need a reason to congregate in the City and not some lame “festival” or “craft fair” or even “farmer’s market”. Albany Troy Schenectady Cohoes Hudson Catskill Saratoga Glens Falls are all blessed with the physical bones to make great livable -walkable (ie congested) cities it’s just a matter that we are to dumb to realize it.

I think what the author was getting at — and if so, he went about it all wrong — is that it’s better to have narrower streets and smaller highways with more congestion than to continually try to accommodate the auto traffic by building wider streets and 10-lane mega-highways. Seems like a needless statement of the obvious, but what do I know?

Norquist is no arm-chair urban philosopher. When he was mayor of Milwaukee they dismantled freeways, pursued lakefront parks and highrises, and redeveloped abandoned industrial areas that are now vibrant residential neighborhoods. I would love it if downtown Albany was as nice as Milwaukee’s downtown.